Shop Talk: Cliched Truisms

I’m no linguist, but I do have a deep appreciation of language and the use of words and phrases. Language is a living representation of a culture, and like all cultures, the automotive world is full of rich, creative, and hilarious expressions. Cliches are a type of expression or phrase that are usually well-worn, tired, or dated, and best to be avoided in this business. As a writer, clichés are an indicator of a lazy, uncreative person. However, clichéd expressions are strongly rooted in the truth, and on top of that, they’re an efficient way of conveying a lot of information in not a lot of words, which is why it’s so tempting to use them in the first place. Take the expression: “Speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?” We’ve all heard this cliché before. There’s a lot packed into that short phrase, and if there’s a more efficient way to sum that notion up, it’s beyond my abilities.

Similarly, “you get what you pay for” is an apt correlary to the previous expression. Though it’s true less often than “Speed costs money…” it is also built on a strong foundation of truth, and is a lesson I learned firsthand while putting Truck Norris together. Truck Norris is, of course, our project 1967 C10. It has graced several of our recent issues and has been the subject of recent Motor Trend on Demand videos, which you can watch on www.youtube.com/motortrend. With a BluePrint Engines’ 540 big block, AEM fuel injection, a T56 Magnum, and manual brakes and steering, driving the thing is a burly, visceral experience. While those halo parts get nearly all the attention, in reality, it’s the mundane and overlooked parts that keep the thing running. Hardly anyone brags about their starter motor or alternator when rattling off the list of parts on their car, but even the coolest big block in the world isn’t worth a damn if it doesn’t start and the battery doesn’t stay charged.

In just a few short months of having the new drivetrain in the C10, I’ve experienced one alternator failure and had three bad starter motors. Now, I’m not one to instantly blame components, but after thoroughly investigating each failure, blame can only lie on the parts themselves. The alternator came apart before the C10 even set tire to road, literally coming apart while running on AEM’s chassis dyno. Early versions of the CS130 alternator had plastic internal fans in the back of the alternator, and by the fifth dyno pull, the alternator was spitting out those fan blades like a hockey player after taking a puck to the mouth. I replaced it with a new (non-remanufactured) version with the upgraded, metal internal fan; so far, so good.

The first starter failure was my mistake: I used an LS1 starter on the big block. It was one of a group of three Chevy starters I had at home. I had long forgotten the application to each, and they look very similar. Starters for LS engines have a shorter reach than the big block and Gen I small block, though, because the flywheel offset to the engine block is different. It wasn’t fully engaging the flywheel ring gear, so the starter drive got chewed up. That was my dumb mistake and therefore doesn’t count here in the starter kill list. The replacement was one of those big starters Chevy has used since the beginning of time. It was a reman from NAPA and began exhibiting the dreaded slow-cranking issues on hot re-starts and occasionally cold starts, too. I checked the wiring: the Painless Performance 1-gauge positive and negative cables were routed properly and away from exhaust heat, cranking voltage was normal, and voltage drop readings on the positive and ground were all acceptable. When all else is ruled out, only the starter remains, so I replaced that one with another reman. This one was for a 1998 Chevy C3500 pickup with a 454. It worked right away but sounded like a coffee grinder and quickly filled the nose cone surrounding the drive gear with metal shavings. I replaced it with the more expensive remanufactured version of the same starter, and so far, that one is holding steady. However, a Powermaster gear reduction starter is en route to me, which is probably the step I should have taken from the start. Pun intended. In an attempt to save some dough, I ended up wasting a lot of time, and spending more money on top of that.
We all know the cliché that best expresses that notion: “Time is money!” So true…